Boston Book Festival: Paper Doll Portraits

When civil rights leader Fannie Lou Hamer was a child and was not feeling good about herself, her mom gave her a doll to inspire her to love herself and believe that she was beautiful and valued. The doll was most likely made by someone in their neighborhood using bits and scraps of fabric, ribbon, and yarn. It was made to look like Fannie Lou and wore a dress in her signature sunflower yellow. This story and others from Fannie Lou’s life are brilliantly illustrated by Ekua Holmes in the Caldecott Honor Book Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement.Now, with Holmes’s help, it’s your turn! If someone were to make a doll or action figure that looked like you, what would it look like? Let’s find out. Make a figure or doll that looks like you using bits and scraps of paper. What colors, clothes do you like to wear? What is the shape of your nose and eyes? What is the color and style of your hair? If you like to read, add a book. If you like sports or music find some way to convey those activities. Using cut shapes and colors, create a Paper Doll portrait of YOU!